40 days without meat candy

Ash Wednesday: Day 1

It’s the first day of Lent. Some of you may have that Fat Tuesday hangover – sticky from King cakes and breath smelling of beer or vodka or wine or bourbon or whatever your D.O.C. (drink of choice) may be. I, for one, am not looking forward to the next 46 days without bacon.

Then it hits me – today is a day of abstinence… no meat! So what’s a carnivore to do? Well, all good Catholics know the quick and (mostly) cheap way to adhere to their Lenten obligations – the good ol’ Filet-O-Fish.

Back in 1962, a McDonald’s franchise owner in Cincinnati noticed his sales go down on Fridays during Lent in his predominately Catholic neighborhood. So he came up with the Filet-O-Fish, which was the first non-hamburger sandwich on the McDonald’s menu. It spread across many McDonald’s restaurants in 1963, and went nationwide in 1965. Since then it’s been a mainstay for Lent observers around the world.